Auger & Augment

by Wilson A Bateman

  Varba wove a new Slow Heal on the tank as Mac drove a javelin again and again into the fallen monster.

  Slynx had taken the time to work his way wide of the remaining kraken and around behind the injured left leg. No way would I be trusting myself to keep shooting arrows with him there, but we couldn’t afford the creature turning around.

  Mac’s eyes met mine, and we both reached for our staffs.

  “Don’t you dare!” Varba shrieked, but she was too late. Mac and I sprinted toward the fight.

  The kraken Slynx had raised from the dead was doing little more than jostling the Su Brahn. With one leg out of commission, it certainly couldn’t do more than give the occasional nip. In spite of that—or maybe because of it—the undead kraken had hung on for quite a while. That all ended when a savage side kick sent it spinning against the wall into one of the bookcases. It fell to the ground in an explosion of ash and scattered books.

  That left one kraken, the largest of the four, still tearing at the left leg, until the leg flicked forward, kicking the kraken nearly straight up to slam into the ceiling.

  Mac and I rushed for the stabilizing right leg. There wasn’t any way we were going to do significant damage, but a few solid smacks should get the thing’s attention. And indeed it did. With our abysmal Dexterity, there was no dodging the low, sweeping kick that sent us both flying, especially since so much of our attention was with Slynx. I had just seen his main stat jump by three points as he took a step back and started to rotate his body.

  I always regretted that I didn’t get to see the blow land—a full 360-degree spin to bring his axe directly into the massive Achilles. When I came to, the Su Brahn was already down. Unable to raise its left leg past kneeling, its options had been severely limited. Slynx and Me’Almah had rallied to finish it off, and Katz had continued his grisly work on the creature’s trunk.

  You have slain a Void Kraken — Level 9 for 78 (base 270) Experience Points!

  You have slain a Void Kraken — Level 11 for 126 (base 330) Experience Points!

  You have slain a Void Kraken — Level 12 for 155 (base 360) Experience Points!

  You have slain a Void Kraken — Level 14 for 220 (base 420) Experience Points!

  Congratulations—you have reached Level 9!

  You have 3 Attribute Points to allocate.

  ...

  You have slain a Su Brahn — Level 19 for 502 (base 703) Experience Points!

  After seeing the Su Brahn was down, I lay still to catch my breath. Varba came over to Mac and I to minister to us. Me’Almah sat slumped on an overturned chair, her right arm cradling her left. Katz and Slynx poked and prodded the corpses, but no loot was forthcoming. Mac was bleeding heavily from a gash on the back of her head. Varba managed to close it, but we all had to wait for more mana in order for her to start restoring Mac to health.

  Varba muttered under her breath about Mac remaining unconscious. Apparently that was a bad thing in reality—one of those things that isn’t treated like a big deal in movies, but in real life… Mac didn’t seem to suffer any negative effects when she awoke though, and Varba even used a light to check her pupils.

  So there we were; Level 9, rested, still with only two stacks of Mana Bleed, and something of a chip on our shoulders. We were ready to put that dungeon down!

  Me’Almah paused while leading us back to the entrance. “Do you all see that?” she asked, looking up to the ceiling of the hall. Sure enough, a fine sift of mana ash was falling from the ceiling. And from the walls. And from the floors. Like it was being blown by some immaterial breeze—except it was a breeze that I could see. The flow of mana that had helped me find the dungeon had increased, and the pressure I felt from the current was starting to rise as well. The dungeon was coming apart, and Hearthstead would be going with it.

  Chapter 25

  The fact that we were underground wasn’t lost to us, and so we followed Me’Almah as she bolted for the entrance. We had one final hallway to complete, and it simply led to a large set of doors, filigreed to match the others. When Katz attempted to open them, though, they simply fell away in a cascade of ash, leaving a canyon between what remained of the doors. He returned from inside only half a minute or so later.

  “It only gets worse in there. Come see this.” We filed through the hole in the doors and found ourselves in a large room. Palatial, really. It was clear that this had been a meeting place of some sort. Probably a church. The ceiling was lost overhead in the gray of our Dark Vision, and there was no time to look closer. Katz was leading us down an aisle between rows of stone pews. He held out a hand as he went, and it passed straight through the backs of those he touched, leaving them to fall like stacked dominoes and then be sucked away by the invisible pressure farther down the aisle.

  A debuff appeared over Katz’s head, but he didn’t stop.

  Mana Drain — Unknown

  Your mana is being drained at a rate of 1 Mana Point per minute.

  “I know, I know," he waved us off. “Come on.”

  As we walked, the pressure from the flow of mana increased.

  Mana Drain — Unknown

  Your mana is being drained at a rate of 2 Mana Points per minute.

  Katz led us a few more steps forward… 5 Mana Points per minute.

  “This is as far as I could go without ending up comatose," he announced. “Plus,” he pointed down the aisle, “I wanted to avoid those.”

  Peering through the gray, we saw movement.

  “Is that a leech?” Slynx asked.

  “A small one," Katz confirmed. “They get bigger the farther you go.”

  “Alright, Katz,” Mac responded, subdued. “Fall back. Varb, Zen—you’re with me.”

  It only took a dozen steps for both of them to be in negative territory with their regen, but we pressed ahead together. Katz was right about the leeches. They grew in size and number as we worked our way forward, feeding in a frenzy, but ignoring us entirely. When I nudged one with the tip of my staff, it barely even reacted.

  Meanwhile, whatever was pulling at our mana was getting stronger, faster. The drain began to develop into an actual, physical pull.

  “That’s far enough," Mac announced. “My regen’s at negative twenty. That gives me ten minutes or so before things start getting hairy. Zen, top us off before you head on. Varba and I will check the sides and then circle back to the others. Turn around once you’ve got about ten minutes left. Be careful!”

  I nodded, and she and Varba split off, sidling between the pews and stepping carefully in order to avoid the leeches. As they moved, the debuff on them decreased slightly in strength. I noted that this meant whatever field was producing this mana drain was circular, and that the source must lay directly ahead of me. I drew my staff.

  I watched my own net regen as I walked. 50. 25. 0.

  The pull was circular. The stone of the pews near the aisle grew thinner and thinner, and the silent flow of ash from them increased. Leeches clung to every surface, consuming the softened matter. As I walked, the pews went from thin to insubstantial to simply gone, eaten away in an arc centered on the aisle. I was getting close!

  Then the pews ended altogether.

  I considered my options. If I moved forward, I would walk directly into the source of this mess. If I went back, we’d simply have to retrace my steps later, which would be dangerous in and of itself. -10. My regen ticked downward even as I stood still! That fact made up my mind. If the drain was getting stronger over time, there was no telling how much we had left! The entire dungeon was likely to come down around our heads, and then Hearthstead would be doomed whether or not we could respawn.

  The leeches were so thick at that point I didn’t bother trying to sweep them aside. I winced as my boot came down on the first soft body. Step by step, I advanced, but there was nothing else to see. Everything Dark Vision revealed had simply become an undifferentiated mass of gray, above, ahead, behind... Only the leeches lining the floor made it clear which way was
up and which was down. I dismissed Dark Vision in favor of Ether alone, and instead began to follow the river of mana that tugged at my feet.

  -50. I increased my pace. I was past the ten-minute mark. At this rate my mana would be gone in eight. Leeches swarmed under my feet, feasting on the free mana and ignoring the more difficult meal of my intact variety. -100. -150. Less than three minutes to go. I just needed to see what was there—to see something! The floor sloped more sharply downward, and the angle of the mana’s flow increased. I was just about there!

  Sprinting now, I made my way down the ever-increasing slope. At 200 mana left, I only had about 30 seconds. 20. 10. Less time with every step!

  And then there was a knot. A stone. Shining blindingly bright, impossibly dense with mana, and itself the point at which the flow of mana converged. 5 seconds. I raced forward at the limits of my Dexterity, my stamina bar plummeting. 2 seconds. I reached for the stone, despairing that I might not reach it. There was no time to go back. There was no time to do anything. I wondered whether there would even be anything left of me to resurrect. At least it wasn’t going to hurt.

  My hand closed around the stone as true darkness closed in around me.

  Do you wish to claim The Dungeon Heart of Marami’s End?

  Be warned that removing the heart will destroy this dungeon.

  If you wish to recreate this dungeon, a suitable location is required of Quality: Fine.

  The words hovered in the timeless black around me. Was I dead? I had no sense of my body. No sense of anything. I tried to bring up the UI, to no avail. It was just me and the prompt. Destroy a dungeon? How would that work? But if this stone was at the heart of everything that had happened to us—to Hearthstead—then there was no way I could leave it where it was. Yes, I thought at the prompt. Yes, I’ll take the heart.

  A long, lonely horn sounded, seeming to come from everywhere and nowhere in the dark. Gold letters replaced their white counterparts in the emptiness before me.

  Let it be known that due to the heroic efforts of Namara, Me’Almah, Varba, Zenzuck, Slynx, and Katz, a new dungeon heart has been born!

  Let it be known that Zenzuck has claimed The Dungeon Heart of Marami’s End, in the village of Hearthstead, in the territory of King Leonald II.

  Marami’s End has been destroyed.

  Rough hands grabbed me and hauled me to my feet, even as I struggled to regain them. I opened my eyes to Huth'Ga’s baleful glare. “AFTER ALL THIS?!” she roared, tusks gnashing perilously close to my face. “THE TEMPLE HAD BECOME A DUNGEON, AND YOU DID NOT TELL US?!”

  I looked around frantically. What was going on?

  “MY PEOPLE HAVE SUFFERED ENOUGH, PLAYER! AND WE WILL NOT SUFFER FURTHER IN SERVICE OF YOUR ‘GAMES.’” She shook me violently. “WE. WILL. NOT!”

  Behind her, I could see my party gathered, once again held at spearpoint by Huth'Ga’s women. I gave them a pleading look before turning back to Huth'Ga. “Great Sister…” I started.

  “Don’t you ‘Great Sister’ me, Human!” she howled, shaking me again. “Do you realize the ruin you have brought to Hearthstead? The laws you have broken? Denying a dungeon to the king is an act of treason! Destroying a dungeon in his territory?” She paused, breathing hard. “I will not see our home ruined!”

  Ruined? I wondered. But we had saved it. We’d beaten the dungeon. I activated Ether to see whether that was the case.

  My vision flashed and sparked, and I was confused to find myself on the ground again. Huth'Ga yanked me back to my feet by the front of my shirt, with a grip of iron. She had hit me! My jaw and cheek tingled numbly as I tried to process, but Huth'Ga wasn’t giving me any time. She thrust her face into mine again.

  “If I see you attempting further spellwork, I will personally drive a blade through your belly every eight hours until the king’s garrison from Kalsip arrives!” The look in her eyes convinced me it wasn’t an idle threat. “Now get to your cell!” She grabbed me by the back of the neck and threw me toward the others, sending me sprawling in front of them. It was as I moved to push myself up that I realized I still held the heart. I turned to face the enraged orc and held it out to her, the two-inch-diameter stone that was the cause of all of this.

  “Take it, please! We never meant any harm!” I pleaded.

  She glared at me coldly. “I will have nothing to do with that stone, and neither will any of my people! Perhaps if we gift it, and you, to King Leonald, he will see we had nothing to do with its creation!“ she growled, then motioned to the guards, who dragged me to my feet and marched the six of us out through the former dungeon. It looked different with the shadows cast from torches and lamps, the vast chapel with one end carved out from mana degradation. Smaller, too, now that we could see from wall to wall. Now it just looked old and sad.

  “Keep an eye on the human," Huth'Ga called after the guards. “If he casts, run him through.”

  We shuffled into our cell, frustrated, incensed, and dejected to varying degrees. I was ordered to sit next to the bars so a guard could keep my eyes in sight.

  “Fucking shit-damn, Zen, what happened?” Mac asked, once it was clear the guards had gotten us settled.

  I explained myself, shamefaced. It didn’t take long, but it was crushing. Yet again I’d gotten them into an extended-stay situation. It was going on a week now that I’d dragged them out of Kalsip and into Huth'Ga’s clutches. I’d thought we’d been forming some measure of trust with the orc, but now that was gone. And now we were trapped again, worse off than before!

  I finished by showing them the heart. I myself hadn’t really had a chance to look at it. It was ovoid, silvery-grey, and fit perfectly in the palm of my hand. Etched into the surface were the now-familiar whorls of stylized mana.

  Luctus’ Auger — 120/120

  The Dungeon Heart of Marami’s End

  The right-hand tool of the Great Sage Luctus, now in pieces.

  Negates the effects of Ether.

  Siphons mana continually if left without a host.

  Ignoring questions from the others, I turned my hand over and stared at the gauntlet. Now in pieces… Whatever this right-hand tool was, I now had two pieces, both in my right hand! I could see now that the auger was meant to sit on the metallic plate on the back of my hand. Enticed by visions of phat lootz, I brought the two together.

  You do not have the skill to join these items.

  Required: Enchanting—Level 32, Jewelcrafting—Level 12.

  I showed the prompts to the others before really focusing on the second piece of the description. Negates Ether? I checked for a curse debuff, but I didn’t find one. How could negating the effects of Ether be a benefit to anyone? Especially to me? Ether was literally the only reason worth keeping me around, and now it was either give that up, or doom any place I put the thing down to a slow death!

  Mac saw right to the heart of the problem and recommended that I simply give the stone to her. Of course the game decided that would be too easy.

  Warning! Luctus’ Auger can only be safely wielded by one with access to the Ether spell. Without the Ether spell, the wielder will be drained of mana and destroyed.

  Mac jerked her hand back. Apparently she’d received the same warning.

  “So your options are to completely lose your regen or to pick some place to devastate? Fuck...” she breathed. “Zen, I’m starting to think someone’s got it in for you!”

  “Don’t worry,” Katz chimed in, seeing my forlorn mood growing. “All we have to do is take the ring to Mordor, drop it in the lava, and…” Everyone chuckled.

  I was tempted to do my best Gollum impression with the stone, but got shy and chickened out.

  “But seriously,” Katz continued. “Why not just smash it?”

  I seriously considered the option. On the one hand, the small, smooth stone was just about the worst thing that could happen to me, character-wise. On the other hand, the possibilities once the auger and the augment were joined was tantalizing—and Huth'Ga’s r
eaction had made it clear that, as a dungeon heart, the auger had worth on its own.

  “It might come to that,” I conceded, “but I’d really like to try and get it repaired, if we can. It could be something epic.”

  Katz shrugged his indifference.

  “So what now?” Me’Almah put to the party. I had nothing. Neither did anyone else. The second Huth'Ga had entered the temple, she had activated The Mayor’s Curse. We were back down to 10 points each in our stat bars. Less in my case; it would take me a few hours to fully recover from Huth'Ga’s backhand. The best plan of action we could come up with was giving Huth'Ga some time to calm down, and then asking for an audience to plead our case.

  Not even that was promising though. Somehow this dungeon heart business had really disturbed her. From what we could piece together, the king would somehow both want the dungeon heart and be upset by its creation. We had cleared the dungeon, and now that I held the auger, Hearthstead should be safe. That had to be good, right? What would have happened if I’d chosen not to take it?

  We didn’t have enough information to come to any conclusions, and the guards refused to help us out. The camaraderie we’d developed while training with them during the two days prior had evaporated fully.

  Chapter 26

  Villagers passing within view of our cell didn’t so much as glance in our direction, and the bustle of a community with newly awakened hope petered away as the villagers found their dinner. Our own evening meal came and went with no audience. For their part, our three guards took turns eating, having brought in extra torches to better guard against my magic, not that I had any reason to use it anymore. The shadows lengthened, and the night pressed in close as the six of us drifted off one by one. It had been a long and eventful day followed by frustration and boredom.